Project Statement
Newsmaker is a series of portraits influenced by media personalities in the United States. Specifically, this series' focus is on portraits of those that act in the guise of News Anchors and Journalists. The work represents my observations on the transition, in emphasis, that has happened in contemporary news journalism between reporting and biased editorializing. Regardless of political affiliation, liberal and conservative are critiqued within this work.

The photographic portraits are displayed opposite graphical QR Codes that I have encoded using QR software. The "QR" or Quick Response codes when scanned, using any smart phone with a free downloadable QR reader application, will display a quote from each figure. The portraits are photographed from a television screen using a 4x5 camera and Fuji Positive Film. The emulsion of the film is then later transferred onto watercolor paper and digitally scanned and combined with the QR code.

Bio
Prince Varughese Thomas is an artist who is part of the Indian Diaspora. He is a naturalized East Indian-American, born in Kuwait and raised primarily between India and the United States. The act of crossing borders, both physical and psychological, in no small part contributes to the content of his work. He incorporates a variety of photographic, video, and installation techniques into his artwork. His work explores the Socio/Political in personally expressive ways. Thomas' work has been characterized as poetic moments captured in a chaotic world.

His work has been exhibited in over 75 solo and group exhibitions at museums, galleries, and alternative spaces including The Queens Museum, NY; the Zentral Bibliotheck, Zurich; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Gallery of the National Library of Argentina; Bunker 8, Beijing, China; Center for the Visual Arts, Toledo, OH; Society for Contemporary Photography, Kansas City, MO; Museum of New Art, Detroit, MI; the Alternative Museum, NY, NY; the Light Factory, Charlotte, NC; & the Contemporary Museum, Atlanta, GA. His work is represented in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

Thomas received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Arlington, and M.F.A. from the University of Houston. He is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Lamar University.

Prince V. Thomas' artwork is "an endearing marriage of high and low".
-New York Times, July 2008

Prince V. Thomas' video is "a beautiful piece that feels cleansing to watch".
-Houston Chronicle, June 2009